Food allergy compassion is a delicate subject to many who suffer from Celiac Disease or other autoimmune disorders. While the general public lives their lives relatively care-free when it comes to food consumption, someone with food allergies lives in constant fear of their next exposure. They know it will eventually happen, but will the circumstances be manageable? What if they are miles away from home in a strange town, or even out locally with acquaintances. The people you are with and the people who are serving you have varying levels of food allergy compassion, and you have to be confident and aware that you must control the situation. Scenario 1: Visiting Family Afar Imagine you are 2500 miles from the gluten-free oasis that is your kitchen. Your kitchen equipped with pots and pans that have never touched gluten, dedicated prep surfaces and care from your live-in family, this is...

We had the pleasure of attending a Celiac friendly wedding over the weekend. This was the first of it’s kind we’ve ever seen. The assortment of treats was great for a wedding – chocolate covered pretzels, nuts, gluten free cookies and cupcakes. The best part about it was that the gluten free table was on the far side of the hall, kept far away from the alternative gluten-laced treats. On top of that, they also had place cards with a gluten free designation for the Celiac guests. Our First Celiac Friendly Wedding Although we have only been to a handful of weddings since Julie’s Celiac diagnosis, we have yet to come across a party that actually caters to Celiac sufferers. It helped that a number of people on the groom’s side have Celiac Disease, so that certainly encouraged the hosts to provide something they could eat. The caterers seemed to understand the...

When you have Celiac Disease, you have days that are manageable, and you have days that are tough to get through. The diet restrictions alone are enough to keep you from enjoying some of the good things in life like dining out or traveling to new places. Since Julie’s diagnosis, we found that gluten free choices are limited to more than just places that advertise gluten free, but places that truly understand the contamination risks and take precautions to get the order right. There have been a few times we were either rushed or misunderstood and the order was not right, which led to Julie ‘being glutened’. We use the term being glutened like we use ‘food poisoning’, but the physical healing time from being exposed to gluten can last for days beyond the exposure. The mental and emotional effects can last longer. It is critical that we limit the chances that...

Flying with Celiac Disease is one of the more challenging dietary restrictions a person can face. We find it exceptionally difficult to find food while we’re moving through airports. Larger airports would seem to have more selection, but they are not much better than smaller commuter airports. Julie and I have spent more time looking for food in airports than actually sitting down and enjoying a meal. Our last trip was unfortunate – we found a gluten free restaurant advertised as such, open until 10PM with our plane landing at 8:45, so we should have had plenty of time to get to the spot and have a decent meal. By the time we reached the restaurant at 9:00PM, they told us they closed at 9. They reluctantly agreed to seat us, but no one knew exactly how the gluten free food was prepared, or the degree in which they could assure no cross-contamination. We were starving, so we...